Publication Date
Spring 2025
Abstract
This study investigates how climate change is reshaping agriculture and food security on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, a region historically known as “The Green Island” for its rich biodiversity and agricultural productivity. Through semi-structured interviews with 11 local farmers and extended participant observation at the farm of government official Amour Juma Mohammed, the research reveals that increasingly erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and prolonged droughts are disrupting traditional planting cycles and reducing crop yields. Farmers report the near disappearance of the vuli rainy season and increasingly severe weather during masika, leading to both water scarcity and crop damage. In response, many have adopted innovative adaptation strategies such as raised planting ridges, mulching, organic fertilizers, and crop rotation—often blending traditional knowledge with practical experimentation. However, barriers such as high costs, pest infestations, limited market incentives, and institutional gaps hinder widespread adoption of sustainable practices. The study highlights the resilience and ingenuity of Pemban farmers while emphasizing the urgent need for targeted policy support, educational initiatives, and culturally informed climate adaptation strategies to sustain agricultural livelihoods and food access in the face of intensifying environmental change.
Disciplines
Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Horn, Margaret, "Agricultural Innovation to Climate Change in Northwest Pemba Island" (2025). Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management . 2.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/tzz/2